Jobs and odd-ball jobs
I started my second part-time job last Wednesday. I was working mornings from 8:30 to 11:30. As I wrote before the kids were pretty cool. They were smart, enthusiastic, and cute. The pay was better too. But I felt tired soon. I think teaching requires a lot of energy and I felt exhausted even after just a few hours. Plus I was still working my regular job at night and weekends. So only after five days on the job, I quit. I still made some decent money and that will be used to pay for my new visa, which I can pick up tomorrow. It will be a multi-entry visa! This means I will be able to leave China and return freely for a year. So this gives me much more flexibility and allows me to go home whenever a chance arises without any trouble.
I also got a call this morning from a Japanese staffing company. They set up an interview for me with a Japanese company looking to start an office in Beijing on Saturday. That could turn out to be a good job.
I met a young 21 year American guy from Minnesota at school recently. He told me about a job he started a couple of weeks ago. He has been in China for two years and speaks Chinese really well. He said he works at a Karaoke bar. However, the catch is that the Karaoke bar is for women, who are usually pretty, young, and have money to spend. Many young guys work at this place, including this young American guy.
Well, what happens is that the girls get a room and start singing. Then the boys come in and the girls can pick some to act as hosts for chatting and singing. Finally when the girls get tired of these boys they give them a tip and can get some new ones. These young guys can earn money by being hosts and getting tips.
Some girls want to have western looking hosts. So somehow my friend had the courage to try it and he made some money and had some fun. He asked me if I would like to go too. He said the club would welcome another foreigner. Well, being that I do not like to drink and do not smoke, I was hesitant, but I thought it might be an interesting experience. At the very least I could practice using my Chinese. So I gave it a shot last night.
I went with Frank (for reasons you will learn later I will not use his real name) to the club. But the weather was bad outside and few customers came. I did meet the other guys who also work there as hosts. They were young, stylish, and good looking Chinese guys who I guess probably came from poor backgrounds looking to find an out. Again I wish I had my camera to take pictures of this surreal environment, but I could not bring something so valuable to a place that could be a little sleazy. But I was so impressed how Frank had within a short time gotten to know most of them, know who is who and have information about them such as who are the bosses and who are the little ducklings as he calls them. He told me how to handle the customers and the different types. He did all this in Chinese and on his own. I later found out Frank was really interested in working for the US government in the future, specifically military intelligence. He liked this job because he could learn this about the night life and Chinese drinking culture and felt it might come in handy in his future job. He certainly had courage to do this work and seemed adept at observation and information gathering. He could tell me who had skills, smarts, status, and power within this micro-society.
Nonetheless, I only got a chance to stand in front of the customers and get selected a few times, but I was not selected. Finally, it was so slow and late I got tired and went home early. Maybe I will try again some weekend night when I am bored and absolutely have nothing better to do. I am welcome to go there anytime because I only make money if the customer gives me a tip.
I also got a call this morning from a Japanese staffing company. They set up an interview for me with a Japanese company looking to start an office in Beijing on Saturday. That could turn out to be a good job.
I met a young 21 year American guy from Minnesota at school recently. He told me about a job he started a couple of weeks ago. He has been in China for two years and speaks Chinese really well. He said he works at a Karaoke bar. However, the catch is that the Karaoke bar is for women, who are usually pretty, young, and have money to spend. Many young guys work at this place, including this young American guy.
Well, what happens is that the girls get a room and start singing. Then the boys come in and the girls can pick some to act as hosts for chatting and singing. Finally when the girls get tired of these boys they give them a tip and can get some new ones. These young guys can earn money by being hosts and getting tips.
Some girls want to have western looking hosts. So somehow my friend had the courage to try it and he made some money and had some fun. He asked me if I would like to go too. He said the club would welcome another foreigner. Well, being that I do not like to drink and do not smoke, I was hesitant, but I thought it might be an interesting experience. At the very least I could practice using my Chinese. So I gave it a shot last night.
I went with Frank (for reasons you will learn later I will not use his real name) to the club. But the weather was bad outside and few customers came. I did meet the other guys who also work there as hosts. They were young, stylish, and good looking Chinese guys who I guess probably came from poor backgrounds looking to find an out. Again I wish I had my camera to take pictures of this surreal environment, but I could not bring something so valuable to a place that could be a little sleazy. But I was so impressed how Frank had within a short time gotten to know most of them, know who is who and have information about them such as who are the bosses and who are the little ducklings as he calls them. He told me how to handle the customers and the different types. He did all this in Chinese and on his own. I later found out Frank was really interested in working for the US government in the future, specifically military intelligence. He liked this job because he could learn this about the night life and Chinese drinking culture and felt it might come in handy in his future job. He certainly had courage to do this work and seemed adept at observation and information gathering. He could tell me who had skills, smarts, status, and power within this micro-society.
Nonetheless, I only got a chance to stand in front of the customers and get selected a few times, but I was not selected. Finally, it was so slow and late I got tired and went home early. Maybe I will try again some weekend night when I am bored and absolutely have nothing better to do. I am welcome to go there anytime because I only make money if the customer gives me a tip.
Labels: work
posted by Mark at
10:13 AM
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